Ling gear and techniques:

[eaglemaniac]

It's been awhile since I've been able to fish for Lings. I know one of my favorite setups was a glow scampi on a bullet head jig. Have also nailed a few on perch zingers, buzzbombs etc. Anyone else have an old recipe for success? eman

 

[Eric]

I remember the biggest Ling I ever caught. It ate the little rock cod that I had hooked about 3 seconds previously.
But that would be kinda unethical eh? Using little rock cod for bait. Too bad Ling cod don't eat whole seals!
I just use generic jigs. Heavier weights for breezy days.

 

[Eric]

I remember the biggest Ling I ever caught. It ate the little rock cod that I had hooked about 3 seconds previously.
But that would be kinda unethical eh? Using little rock cod for bait. Too bad Ling cod don't eat whole seals!
I just use generic jigs. Heavier weights for breezy days.

 

[knucklebuster]

I will risk the unethical bash but ,in the old days,ling loved sole and kelp greenling(and smaller ling and rock fish).
These days,I would use the largest jig I could find.Those rubber ones with the lead head always worked good.I would always use my halibut rod and leaders with BIG hooks.Those big ones will dive back into the rocks so you have to really nail on them.When catching them on smaller fish you usually found that they weren't even hooked.They were just hanging on.With ling I have usually found,the bigger the bait,the bigger the fish.
You can net them for hook removal,if your net is big enough,but prepare to get wet.I never had an issue of them swallowing hooks.
I geuss you could try mackerel from the grocery store.Or sometimes at superstore you can get a bag of large old herring for cheap.

 

[knucklebuster]

I will risk the unethical bash but ,in the old days,ling loved sole and kelp greenling(and smaller ling and rock fish).
These days,I would use the largest jig I could find.Those rubber ones with the lead head always worked good.I would always use my halibut rod and leaders with BIG hooks.Those big ones will dive back into the rocks so you have to really nail on them.When catching them on smaller fish you usually found that they weren't even hooked.They were just hanging on.With ling I have usually found,the bigger the bait,the bigger the fish.
You can net them for hook removal,if your net is big enough,but prepare to get wet.I never had an issue of them swallowing hooks.
I geuss you could try mackerel from the grocery store.Or sometimes at superstore you can get a bag of large old herring for cheap.

 

[theJohnD]

Kelp Greenling is absolute candy to a good ling. Last summer I took a 11 yr old kid out that had never seen the ocean before. He was using on of my Norwegian jigs, hooked a 15 lb ling that came up crosswise in the mouth of a 55 lb ling. Yes they are carnivorous to be sure. Saw an article in a magazine a couple of years ago where the guy was trying to break the worlds record for lings ( up in the Queen C. Islands) and he planed on using 12-18 lb ling as bait. If you are where they are any good jig will work, they are not bashfull.

 

[theJohnD]

Kelp Greenling is absolute candy to a good ling. Last summer I took a 11 yr old kid out that had never seen the ocean before. He was using on of my Norwegian jigs, hooked a 15 lb ling that came up crosswise in the mouth of a 55 lb ling. Yes they are carnivorous to be sure. Saw an article in a magazine a couple of years ago where the guy was trying to break the worlds record for lings ( up in the Queen C. Islands) and he planed on using 12-18 lb ling as bait. If you are where they are any good jig will work, they are not bashfull.

 

[battaglino]

I think the work is cannibalistic rather that carnivorous. The small soles will to work on all large bottom fish. We use to hit the sandy bottom areas in Barkley and catch 6 or 7 soles and keep them alive in a bucket. They where the best bait a close second is Greenling (ling candy). We used them for Hali's too.

 

[battaglino]

I think the work is cannibalistic rather that carnivorous. The small soles will to work on all large bottom fish. We use to hit the sandy bottom areas in Barkley and catch 6 or 7 soles and keep them alive in a bucket. They where the best bait a close second is Greenling (ling candy). We used them for Hali's too.

 

[ratherbefishin]

I think I might share this experience with a lot of other anglers...
While fishing for bottom fish on a Zinger, I hooked what I assumed to be a rockfish. I didn't feel all that heavy, so I started to reel up and all of a sudden, this little fish turn into a real fighter, really heavy. So when this fish gets to the surface, I realized to my surprise that it is a huge ling followed by another good size ling! The minute that its head break the surface, it lets go and all I have on is a small rock fish. Obviously, the ling had taken it and another ling followed looking for any scrap. I immediately released the brake on the reel and the rock fish sank dragged down by the weight of the Zinger. I might have gone down 20 or 30 feet when the same big ling took the rock fish again. I brought it up to the surface and without letting it break to the top netted it. It was not hooked but just refused to give up its prey. These were the days when the pressure on lings was not felt yet and they were plentiful. I am not proud of it but if makes a pretty good story.

 

[TheRock]

I have a very similar story....
Years ago when I was younger I used to have this old 12' aluminum boat. Me and my friend had launched it from a near by sandy beach 5 minutes from my house (Victoria). Basically in our back yard. We had a few light weight jigging rods on board and a few lures and headed to the shallow kelp beds along the shore line to pass some time and have some fun jigging for cod. We started fishing after a few fish and hooking into another one, as I was bringing it up suddenly there was all this added weight!! What the?? With this light jigging rod and 12-15 lb. test I was ever so slowing bring this up to the surface. It comes to the surface in view and I had hooked a small Tommy cod with a 20 lb. + ling cod attached to it!! My eyes bugged out of my head looking at two bigger ling cod twice its size that had followed it up to the surface! We had three monster ling cod to the surface by my aluminum boat...! Still in shock trying to finesse this huge ling cod closer to the boat where we could attempt to gaff it, the line snaps .... and off goes all three monster fish back down to the bottom.. My friend and I look at each other in disbelief ! Realizing what had just happened give our location where we were! And realizing we had just accidentally found one of the most amazing ling cod holes you could imagine. Next day we returned to that exact same spot, but this time we came prepared with heavier gear. We caught a Tommy cod for bait and dropped it down in the same spot as the day before.. all most immediately we hooked into this monster ! We get it to the side of the boat with only a gaff in the boat with my adrenaline pumping hard, I slam the gaff into the head of the ling cod and all in one motion with all my body power leaning into my arms I was able to just barely slide this 7 foot + monster over the side of the boat and into the bottom of the 12' aluminum boat! Where all of a sudden this monster explodes into a frantic dance with its mouth wide open the size of basket ball and fangs size of nails... it was banging on the in sides of the aluminum boat so hard you could hear the clanging from far away ! My friend ran to the front of the aluminum boat and was standing on the very tip of the boat fearing for his life..! We managed to get it under control and ended up bonking it. We continued fishing and ended up landing a second one not much smaller ! We get home in disbelief and weighed the fish... 49lber. and a 36lber. At the time being a kid with little fishing experience and knowledge I had no idea that the larger lingcod were the once that are responsible for reproduction of the ling cod stocks.. I look back on those days and wish I had never kept them and had released them. I made several subsequent trips back to this precise spot where these giants lived and was able to lure these monster to the surface time and time again.... to this day I think this honey hole still holds and sustains these giants. We had only kept a few from when we fished there... There were plenty more down there! It was an amazing honey hole cause you would only catch them at a very specific tide and a very specific time of day on this precise spot. I had tried fishing it numerous of times during different times of the day on different tide and you would think there was nothing down there ! As word got out through friends, a few boats started showing up on location trying to figure out this precise honey hole. All though I heard story's of a few of them catching the odd smaller ling cod here and there in proximity.... I believe non of them truly figured it out exactly like I did.... to this day, I believe this honey hole is still alive and healthy sustaining these giants in reproducing more ling cod for the future of that area.

 

[knucklebuster]

quote:Originally posted by ratherbefishin

I think I might share this experience with a lot of other anglers...
While fishing for bottom fish on a Zinger, I hooked what I assumed to be a rockfish. I didn't feel all that heavy, so I started to reel up and all of a sudden, this little fish turn into a real fighter, really heavy. So when this fish gets to the surface, I realized to my surprise that it is a huge ling followed by another good size ling! The minute that its head break the surface, it lets go and all I have on is a small rock fish. Obviously, the ling had taken it and another ling followed looking for any scrap. I immediately released the brake on the reel and the rock fish sank dragged down by the weight of the Zinger. I might have gone down 20 or 30 feet when the same big ling took the rock fish again. I brought it up to the surface and without letting it break to the top netted it. It was not hooked but just refused to give up its prey. These were the days when the pressure on lings was not felt yet and they were plentiful. I am not proud of it but if makes a pretty good story.

Nothing to be ashamed of.Thats the way you get them.I'm sure most here have done it.Only difference is now we should release the large ones.have fun with them first.
Rock-Great story.Let us know if you figure the spot out again.Just make sure to keep the location secret.

 

[yammy5]

I can corroborate the Rock's story as I happened to be with him that first day when we found the spot. Of course he didn't mention that he took a different guy out there when he caught the 49 and the 36. Ya *******! lol. However I pulled a couple big ones outta that spot later on. It's definitely an amazing hole but the techniques and location should always remain a secret. 'And those big fish should always be released, although my attitude was certainly different as a kid. These stocks are way too easy to wipe-out. Fun to catch and easy to release. Eat the 10lb lings and release the big ones. Those big old fish don't even taste very good. My 2 cents.

 

[knucklebuster]

quote:Originally posted by yammy5

I can corroborate the Rock's story as I happened to be with him that first day when we found the spot. Of course he didn't mention that he took a different guy out there when he caught the 49 and the 36. Ya *******! lol. However I pulled a couple big ones outta that spot later on. It's definitely an amazing hole but the techniques and location should always remain a secret. 'And those big fish should always be released, although my attitude was certainly different as a kid. These stocks are way too easy to wipe-out. Fun to catch and easy to release. Eat the 10lb lings and release the big ones. Those big old fish don't even taste very good. My 2 cents.

Wouldn't it make sense to put a max size limit on them? I think that would be a huge step in helping them survive.By saving one big breeder you would be creating possibly thousands of babies.A 10 or 12 #er is plenty for a meal and still allows a family to go out and catch something.The only benefit to getting a huge fish is bragging rights and that can be done with a camera.It sounds win win to me.

 

[Red Monster]

Great stories! [8D]

Rock, I agree with your not telling the exact location of your fishy pot of gold, but thanks for telling the story. Maybe I'll share one later.

Thanks Yam and Knuckles (and others?) for kindly reminding that it's in everyone's self-interest to release the big ones.

So is ten pounds really about as big as you want to keep? That's only about the legal size to retain is it not? [?] Can anyone tell us about male and female lings. FM: Here's your big chance (if you're still out there [B)][}]) and I promised not to get pissed off again. [:I]